Machine for spot-treating multiple fabric layers



24, 1938. LA. WHITE ET Al. uml

MACHINE FOR SPOT TREATING MULTIPLE FABRIC LAYERS Filed April 2, 1937 Patented May 24, 1938 MACHINE FOR SPOT-TREATING MULTIPLE FABRIC LAYERS Abraham White, Jamaica, Plain, Mass., and

Nathan Labovich, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application April 2, 1937, Serial No. 134,690

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for spottreating, especially spot-marking, multiple fabric layers and more particularly superposed fabric layers that are to be cut into parts of garments orrthat represent already-cut parts of garments.

In cutting the parts of garments in a garment factory, it is the practice to withdraw the cloth from a bolt and to build up a pile or large multiplicity of cloth layers. The cutter then chalks the outline of the garment parts from suitable patterns on the top layer of the pile; and prior to cutting out the various parts or blanks from the pile by the usual automatic cutting machines or after the parts have been cut, it is customary to locate certain spots in a pile of parts, for instance, the spots where buttons are to be sewed, buttonholes made, and pockets or other parts attached. This has sometimes been done by pulling a marker thread through a pile of the parts; and, prior to separating the parts from the pile, the spot at which the thread passes is marked with chalk for subsequent location by the operator to Work on the parts. Accordingly, another operator is usually detailed to chalk-mark each blank or part at the appropriate spot, namely, the spot coincident with that through which the thread had passed when the blank was in a pile. This latter operation of chalk-marking is timeconsuming and monotonous, since each part must be handled and marked separately.

In accordance with the present invention, the spot-marking of each of a multiplicity of superposed fabric layers is effected without disturbing -or handling each of the layers through the use of a marking instrument in the form of a hollow needle whose hollow has an outlet at or near the needle point. The method hereof involves passing such needle through the superposed fabric layers so that the outlet from the needle hollow'is surrounded by the fabric of each of the layers in succession; and, while the needle is passing through the superposed layers, causing a marking fluid to flow progressively through the needle hollow as a ne stream impinging against such layers successively as it is being emitted through the outlet and thus marking the fabric surrounding the spot in each layer through which the needle passes. While the method hereof might be performed with machines of various designs, it is preferable in any event to provide a machine wherein the needle necessary for the performance of the method hereof forms part of an advancing and retracting needle holder whose advancing and retracting strokes are both accompanied by the passage of the needle through the superposed fabric layers and at least one of Whose strokes is attended by the emission -of the fine stream of marking fluid through the needle hollow outlet against the fabric of each layer surrounding the spot through which the needle passes. When the needle-holder is advanced by a suitable handle, it is possible to construct the machine hereof so that the marking fluid is emitted from the needle hollow during both the advancing and retracting strokes of the needle through the multiplicity of superposed fabric layers. Thus, the machine hereof may have a reservoir for the marking fluid or equivalent source of supply leading by way of a normally closed valve to the needle hollow, communication between the reservoir and the needle hollow being established preferably by automatic opening of the valve by suitable means as the needle in its advancing stroke penetrates into the pile of fabric and being disestablished preferably by automatic closing of the valve as the needle in its retracting stroke emerges from the pile of fabric, although the opening and closing of such valve may in some instances be under manual control of the operator.

With the foregoing and other features and objects in view, the present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein,-

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a machine for performing the method hereof.

Figure 2 is a plan view of such machine.

Figure 3 is a sectional detail on the line 3--3 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

As shown in Figure l, the machine hereof may comprise a base or work support I0 upstanding from which is a pedestal or frame II inclusive of a forwardly projecting arm or bracket I2 considerably above the base I0 and a fabric-gauge I3 fixed so as to be vertically adjustable, as by bolts I4, to a slide I5 at the front edge of the pedestal Il. The arm I2 terminates at its front end portion'as an elongated vertical bushing or tubular guide I6 for a vertically movable cylindrical rod I1 whose lower end portion serves as a holder for the hollow needle or punch I8 and Whose upper end portion is suitably secured to a handle I9, as will presently appear.

The needle I8 shown is hollow from its upper end to its lower or pointed end I8a, which may advantageously be left solid so as to minimize needle breakage as the needle point penetrates into and through a thick pile of fabric, as well as to prevent fabric lint from clogging the needle outlet and to avoid displacement or deviation of the needle point away from a substantially perpendicular line as it encounters the flexing stress incident to its being driven through the pile. Immediately above the needle point I8a, the needle may have one or more outlets I8b for its hollow interior, which outlets preferably occur through opposite side walls so that marking fluid may be emitted therefrom to opposite points of the fabric immediately surrounding the needle as it is passing through the fabric. The upper end portion of the needle may be suitably fixed within a tubular holder 20 whose upper end portion is threaded into a socket afforded by an enlargement or knob 2I at the lower end portion of the rod I1.

Leading from the interior 20a of the needleholder 20 is a flexiblehose 22 which communicates by way of a valved pipe 23 to a reservoir 24 for holding the marking fluid. The valve 25 in the pipe 23 is normally closed, but it is adapted to be actuated by a lever 26 to which is pivotally secured a crank 21 constituting the vertically movable core piece of a solenoid 2B whose electric circuit is closed in the course of the downward movement of the handle I9 to open the valve 25 and is opened in the course of the upward movement of the handle I9 to close such valve, as will presently be described.

The portion of the rod I1 above the bushing I6 may terminate as a block or head 30 from whose side walls project pins 3I slidable within slots 32 formed in the opposite walls 33 of an enlarged open intermediate handle portion. The lower or left end portion of the handle may terminate as a hub 34 secured for pivotal movement on a pin 35 in between a pair of bearings 36 at the upper end of the pedestal II. 'I'he retractive or upward stroke of the handle I9 may be caused automatically, as by a compression spring 31 encompassing the rod I1 in between its head 30 and the upper end of the bushing I6.`

The electric circuit for the solenoid 28 comprises a wire 49 leading from one terminal of the solenoid to a contact-piece carrier 4I fixed to the handle I9 immediately below or beyond the intermediate handle portion. Such contact piece 4I may carry a Contact pin or button 42 projecting yieldingly from the front face of such piece and passing into an opening in such piece `with its inner end 4-3 flanged over an annular shoulder aorded at the inner end of a secondary enlarged opening 44 containing a compression spring'45 for bearing yieldingly against the inner end of the pin 42. The outer or back `end of the opening 44 may be closed by a suitable insulator plate 46 secured in between the back of the contact-piece carrier and the handle I9, as by a pair of bolts 41. The other terminal of the solenoid leads by a wire 49 to a suitable source of electricity, which source also supplies electric current by a wire 49 to a contact piece or member 5I] upstanding from the upper face of the arm or bracket I2 and insulated therefrom as by an electro-insulator plate 5I.

The upper end of the contact piece 50 is immediately below the contact pin 42; and, when the handle I9 is depressed, the pin 42 is brought into yielding engagement with the back face of the piece 5'0 on arcuate path or line 53, indicated in dot and dash in Figure 1, to close the circuit of the solenoid and thus to open the valve 25. 'Ihe limit of downward travel of the handle is defined by a stop element 54V at the lower end of the path 53, against which sheet the pin 42 strikes to arrest the downward movement of the handle. When the handle is released and the spring 31 acts to elevate it automatically to its normal position shown in Figure 1, contact between the pin 42 and the piece 50 is broken and the electric circuit of the solenoid 28 is thus opened with attendant closing of the valve 25.

The operation of the machine hereof may be briefly described as follows.l The pile of fabric or fabric parts P may be placed on the base II) and the gauge I3 adjusted vertically to exert the desired clamping or holding pressure on the top of the pile and thus to prevent dislodgment of the superposed fabric layers. The outer end I3a of the gauge I3 is shown as being an apertured guide through whose aperture the needle I8 passes on its way through the fabric pile, as such a guide acts to prevent undue flexing or bending of the needle such as might otherwise tend to take place when the fabric pile is especially thick or resistant to piercing and/or when the needle tends to flex under heavy load in the absence of a guide. It is thus seen that the needle guide I3a serves to keep the needle properly located throughout the fabric pile as well as to inhibit undue flexing of the needle such as might otherwise cause needle breakage. Once the fabric pile is accurately placed in the machine with the spot to be marked immediately under the needle guide I3a, the handle I9 is depressed until it is stopped by reason of the pin 42 striking against the stop element 54, at which time, as depicted in dotted outline in Figure 2, the needle has penetrated throughout the fabric pile, whereupon the handle is released and is automatically elevated or restored by the spring 31 to its normal position shown in Figure 2.

In the advance or downward stroke of the handle I9, the contact pin 42 makes contact with the contact piece 50' just as or slightly after the needle I9 penetrates into the fabric pile P, in consequence of which the valve 25 is opened and kept open while the needle passes downwardly through the pile to the very lowermost fabric layer, as seen in dotted outline in Figure 2, and while the needle is passing upwardly through the fabric pile in its return stroke. This means that marking fluid is emitted through the needle outlets IBb as the needle passes substantially all the way down and all the way up through the fabric pile. The base I0 of the needle is shown as provided with an opening 9 into which the point of the needle may enter at the end of its downward stroke, which opening may extend to an absorbent pad or felt 8 capable of absorbing such drippings as the needle may yield at the end of its downward stroke. As already indicated, the emission of marking fluid may begin to take place slightly after the needle has entered the fabric pile, that is, after the uppermost outlet I9 has passed, say, the uppermost three 0r four fabric layers. Because the needle carries some marking fluid even after the supply of marking fluid thereto has been stopped, the few uppermost fabric layers that may have remained unmarked during the descent of the needle therethrough are generally marked during the ascent of the needle therethrough, In order to prevent the discharge of any significant amount of marking liquid through the needle outlets I9 after the needle has emerged from the fabric pile, a suitable valve 1 may be provided at the point where the hose 22 delivers the marking liquid into the needle holder 20, which valve 1 may be designed to check flow of such residual liquid as may be containedv in the hose 22 by reason of such valve requiring greater pressure or head of liquid for its opening than that afforded by the residual liquid in the hose 22.

It is, of course, desirable to change the point at which the needle begins and stops emitting marking liquid, since the depth or thickness of the fabric pile being spot-marked may vary from time to time. Such change may be had by masking off more or less of the inner face of the contact piece B by an insulator plate or shield 6 removab-ly and adjustably secured to the piece 50, as by fasteners 5 slidable within an arcuate slot 52 in the piece 50. It is obvious that a number of such shields 6 may be available to correspond to different depths or thicknesses of pile of fabric to be marked. So as to enable the operator to know at once the particular shield to be used with a particular thickness of fabric pile, the slide l5 may carry graduations or marks denoting the particular shield that is serviceable with a particular setting of the gauge I3 thereon. It is also possible to provide a single shield that is readily adjustable on the contact piece 50 to mask more or less of the inner face of the contact piece 50 in terms of graduations associated with the arcuate slot 52 and in terms of the setting of the gauge I3 read off from the graduated scale associated with the slide I5.

Various fluid marking media may be used pursuant to the invention hereof, depending upon the color and other characteristics of the fabric to be marked. For instance, when blue serge is the cloth being marked, a suspension of very finely ground white pigment in Water or other volatile medium may be kept in the reservoir for the marking medium. In other instances, wax as such or dyed or pigmented Wax in molten condition or dissolved in organic solvents may serve as the marking medium, especially when the finished garments made up from the marked fabric parts are to be ironed under heat and such wax or such dyed or pigmented wax spots as are Visible in the nished garments can be obliterated through volatilization of the particular pigment and/or dye and/or wax employed. In still other instances, the marking medium may consist of a solution, suspension, or dispersion of dye, pigment, or other coloring agent in water or other volatilizable liquid medium, the particular dye, pigment, or other coloring agent selected being capable of being volatilized or decolorized under ironing heat. When the marking medium is a dispersion or emulsion of suitable marking material of either liquid or solid character, such dispersion or emulsion may be stabilized by suitable protective colloids or emulsifying agents. If desired, the marking medium may be under the superatmospheric pressure of air or other gas in the reservoir so that the marking medium may be emitted as a fine stream under substantial pressure from the marking needle. In lieu of liquid marking media, one may also employ gaseous marking media in the form of suspensions of finely powdered chalk or equivalent pigment in air or other gaseous vehicle, which pigment as it is emitted under pressure (e. g., under the pressure of a fan or pump or of a mixing chamber wherein such suspensions are created) from the marking needle is caught and retained by the fabric surrounding the needle so as to present readily visible localized spots or marks at the points where the needle has penetrated the fabric. The use of chalk dust or like dry pigment as the marking medium presents the advantage that it may be readily brushed or dusted off the finished garment.

The principles of the present invention extend to the spot-treatment of a multiplicity of superposed fabric layers for purposes other than marking, for instance, for the purpose of locally bonding together the layers. Thus, it is possible through the use of the machine hereof to inject rubber latex, aqueous glue solution, or other bonding medium locally into the body of each of the superposed layers at substantially coincidental spots, thereby effecting spot-welding or spot-bonding of all the layers. Similiarly, a multiplicity of superposed fabric layers may be locally dyed, or infused with gas, perfume, or other agent which one might wish to incorporate only locally into each of the bodies of a` superposed plurality of fabric layers, that is, while preserving the main body of each of the fabric layers against the effect of the agent thereon and/or such weakening action thereon as might ensue through widespread or dense punching or piercing thereof.

We claim:

1. A machine for spot-treating substantially all the layers of a multiplicity of superposed fabric layers, comprising a substantially vertical hollow needle whose hollow extends substantially all the way from the top end of the needle to an outlet near the needle point and is constantly open from said top end to said outlet; means for delivering a stream of treating fluid to the top end of said needle hollow, said means including a source of supply of treating fluid communieating by way of a pipe with the top end of said needle hollow and a normally closed valve between said source of supply and the top end 0f said needle hollow; means for causing said needle to advance through said multiplicity of superposed fabric layers; and means for opening said valve and keeping it open while said needle is passing through said layers so as to cause treating fluid to ow progressively from said source of supply by way of said pipe as a fine stream through said needle hollow and out through said outlet against each of said layers in succession.

2. A machine for spot-marking substantially all the layers of a multiplicity of superposed fabric layers, comprising a substantially vertical hollow needle whose hollow extends substantially all the way from the top end of the needle to an outlet near the needle point and is constantly open from said top end to said outlet; means for delivering a stream of marking fluid to the top end of said needle hollow, said means including a reservoir for said marking fluid, a pipe leading froml said reservoir to the top end of said needle hollow, and a normally closed valve insaid pipe; manually manipulable means for causing said needle to advance and retract through said multiplicity of superposed fabric layers; and means automatically actuated by the said manually manipulable means to cause said valve to open and remain open only while said needle is passing through said layers and thereby to cause marking fluid to 110W progressively from said reservoir as a fine stream through said needle hollow and out through said outlet against each of said layers in succession.

ABRAHAM WHITE. NATHAN LABOVICH. 

